Plusnet Mobile Review: 30 Day SIM Only Plans With Coverage From EE

Plusnet Mobile is a low-cost 4G network with 30 day SIM-only plans from £6/month.

In the UK, Plusnet Mobile offers low-cost SIM-only plans using 3G & 4G coverage from the EE network. Plans on Plusnet Mobile start from £6/month with key benefits including a flexible 30-day rolling contract and time-limited special offer promotional tariffs. Plusnet Mobile also offers ‘Smart Cap’ functionality and gives an extra discount to customers who have Plusnet home broadband.

In this article, we’ll review the Plusnet Mobile service. We’ll start by looking at the price plans available on Plusnet Mobile and how they compare to offerings from other mobile networks. We’ll then discuss how to use your handset on Plusnet Mobile, the level of coverage you can expect and how to keep your current phone number.

On the flip side, you’ll get lower monthly prices and greater flexibility on Plusnet Mobile with only a rolling 30-day commitment. This makes it a good option if you don’t want all of the additional features of BT and EE.

In reality, most customers won’t actually be paying these prices. This is because Plusnet Mobile regularly advertises discounted offers on their website. The offers tend to change on a week-by-week basis, and often give you a larger data allowance for a discounted monthly price. You should check the Plusnet website for a full list of their latest deals when comparing them to other mobile network providers.

Smart Cap

The Plusnet Smart Cap is a way to prevent unexpected bills.

Since its original launch under the ‘LIFE Mobile’ brand in 2013, Smart Cap has been promoted as a key feature of the Plusnet Mobile service. Smart Cap is designed to give you greater control over spending on your account, though all UK mobile networks are now legally obliged to offer a similar feature (as of October 2018).

With Smart Cap, you’re able to specify a small buffer between £0 and £30 over which your out-of-allowance charges can never exceed. For instance, if you had a £6/month SIM card with a £2 Smart Cap, your monthly bill would be guaranteed to never exceed £8. The aim of this is to put a stop to unexpected phone bills (e.g. making it ideal if you’re giving the SIM card to your children).

Plusnet Broadband Customers

If you’re a customer of Plusnet home broadband, you’ll be able to benefit from Plusnet’s special “mates rates” offers. In general. you’ll get more minutes and more data for the same monthly price, though this also depends on the current promotions that Plusnet is running.

If you’re a Plusnet home broadband customer, you’ll be able to benefit from the Mates Rates discount on up to 5 SIM cards in your household.

If you’re not currently a Plusnet home broadband customer, it may be worth investigating their home broadband deals which start from around £20 per month.

Bolt Ons

If you’d like to customise your Plusnet Mobile plan, a range of flexible bolt-ons are also available. These can be added to your basic tariff. For instance, an extra £4/month would allow you to add either 250 minutes, 500 texts or 500MB of data.

In general, we’d typically advise against buying a bolt-on from Plusnet Mobile. You’ll almost certainly be better served by upgrading to a higher-priced plan (e.g. the £15/month plan with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 4GB of data).

Comparison to Alternatives

500MB Plan

Plusnet’s entry-level tariff costs £6/month for 250 minutes, 500 texts and 500MB of data. In general, this compares reasonably to other mobile networks, though cheaper alternatives are available on other networks. For instance, other networks sometimes offer 500MB of data from as little as £4/month.

When Plusnet is running a special offer promotion on this tariff, this may change things and make the Plusnet tariff more competitive.

* The price plan listed for BT Mobile is exclusive to customers who live in a BT Broadband household. If you’re not living in a BT Broadband household, you’ll pay the full monthly price which is £5/month more.

* The price plan listed for BT Mobile is exclusive to customers who live in a BT Broadband household. If you’re not living in a BT Broadband household, you’ll pay the full monthly price which is £5/month more.

* The price plan listed for BT Mobile is exclusive to customers who live in a BT Broadband household. If you’re not living in a BT Broadband household, you’ll pay the full monthly price which is £5/month more.

* The price plan listed for BT Mobile is exclusive to customers who live in a BT Broadband household. If you’re not living in a BT Broadband household, you’ll pay the full monthly price which is £5/month more.

Handsets

Plusnet Mobile is a SIM-only mobile network so you’ll need to provide your own unlocked handset to use with the service. This can either be your existing handset or it can be a new handset that you’ve purchased SIM-free.

If you’re planning to buy a brand new smartphone, numerous retailers sell SIM-free smartphones that are unlocked for use on any network. Some of the most popular places to buy a SIM-free smartphone include John Lewis, Argos, the Carphone Warehouse and Amazon.co.uk. If you’re looking for an affordable mid-range smartphone, our current recommendation is the Moto G which starts from around £150 unlocked.

Network & Coverage

2G, 3G & 4G Coverage from EE

Customers on Plusnet Mobile will have access to EE’s 2G, 3G and 4G mobile network. This gives 99% population coverage across the UK, and the widest geographical coverage of any UK network.

Before signing up to join the Plusnet Mobile service, we recommend using Plusnet’s online coverage map to make sure you can get coverage in your area. You can enter your postcode on their website to get an indication of the level of coverage available:

Tethering

Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your mobile phone’s internet connection with other devices (e.g. with a laptop or tablet). It’s often used when you want to stay connected on-the-go from other devices – for instance, whilst working on the train.

On Plusnet Mobile, tethering is permitted on all tariffs. Any data used through tethering or personal hotspot is simply deducted from your allowance as normal.

International Roaming

On Plusnet, you can use your mobile phone abroad when travelling to other countries. If you’re travelling to one of 40 EU destinations, you can benefit from Roam Like At Home. This allows you to use your normal UK allowances when travelling in Europe at no extra charge.

When your new SIM card arrives from Plusnet Mobile, you should contact Plusnet Mobile Customer Services to give them your PAC Code. You can do this by calling 0800 079 1133 or 500 on your Plusnet Mobile handset. Once you’ve given your PAC Code to Plusnet, they’ll arrange the transfer of your phone number (normally for the next working day).

If you’re also joining Plusnet Home Broadband, a different process applies for transferring your landline phone number.

History

Plusnet Mobile launched in November 2016 as the low-cost sub-brand of BT and EE. It replaced the LIFE Mobile brand which was originally launched by Phones4u in March 2013 and then subsequently purchased by EE.

If you originally signed up for the service before the 29th November 2016, you’ll still be on a legacy 3G-only ‘LIFE Mobile’ plan. You’ll need to upgrade to a newer 4G-enabled Plusnet Mobile plan to benefit from the faster download speeds now available.

Your Comments
51 so far

Ken Sheppardsaid:

I appreciate your summary of the Plusnet service. As you imply, it is an “EE lite” service. I would not rely on predictions of EE coverage for Plusnet service. As far as I can gather, EE do not allow MVNOs to use the 4G, 800MHz band 20 frequencies. This band gives far greater reach in rural areas and greater penetration in built up areas. I have found that plusnet 4G coverage is very patchy. I have no way of checking but I suspect that one would get better 4G coverage from an MVNO using O2 or even 3 which do allow access to band 20.
I might add that call forwarding and short code SMS addresses are not supported on plusnet or any other EE MVNOs

Chris Langtonsaid:

Hi Ken
interesting reading your articles , I was with Three PAYG and then swapped to Smarty , but this was before they had introduced roaming and as I was going on holiday I needed to be able to roam and changed to 1P mobile which was fine except outside the bundles the price per mb is actually expensive. I was looking to go back to Smarty but looking around I picked up a deal of unlimited calls & texts plus 1.5GB of data for £5 per month, on Plusnet which is actually cheaper than the Smarty plans. With both 1P mobile and Plusnet using the EE network, I don’t expect any issues & the Opensignal app tells be i am getting EE speeds on both networks. So far I am pleased with the price I am paying.

Svensaid:

I have switched from lycamobile to plusnet a year ago without any porting issues. Lately I have seen some issues and I’m looking to switch again.
1) 4g availability even in Central London is flaky
2) 4g when roaming in the EU (e.g. Germany is poor, even though it’s widely available)
3) certain service texts do not come through (e.g. from the GETT app, my NHS practice etc) plusnet CS hasn’t been able to help

Richardsaid:

I’ve just joined Plusnet Mobile (I’m not a Plusnet broadband/landline customer) from Asda Mobile and it was a relatively easy process.

In June last year I nearly joined TalkMobile but they wanted far too much information, bank statement and letter proving I’m resident at my address and I simply didn’t wish to provide it as I felt it was none of their business. I wanted their £7.50 a month Sim Only plan. So I joined Asda Mobile (from 02 due to increasing cost and poor network) and they are a good provider but when it comes to data it can be on the expensive side. I mostly purchased their £5 Talk and Text bundle as I wasn’t both a regular and heavy internet user on my mobile phone.

Anyway, I’ve purchased the £7.50 monthly plan (1,000 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB Data) from Plusnet Mobile and the sim arrived on Saturday and I’ve been using it since Monday (3 days) for all the services provided to me. The process of porting my number was easy and quick too – I was expecting the transfer to take ages but it took less than 24 hours. Also, I didn’t encounter nay of the nonsense that I did with TalkMobile regarding sending bank statements etc………Just did it over the phone and they accepted me straight away.

I’d recommend Plusnet Mobile even though I’ve only been a customer of theirs for a short time!

MJalimsaid:

I joined life mobile in August 2015, transferring my previous number to the new network. Since then I haven’t been able to receive all texts and calls from a variety of people. has been 5 MONTHS and the company hasn’t been able to find a solution. I have to try out a number of replacement sim cards and have had to give examples of the network issue on over 5 occasions. I have been promised to be called back and updated on the issue but instead have had to chase them up and continuously put in new requests for the SAME ongoing issue.

Most recently, my phone installed new updates and upon restarting my phone, it has asked for a SIM Pin code. I called plusnet/lifemobile and they haven’t been able to provide me with the accurate PUK code to access my sim and use my phone.

Lifemobile/Plustnot gives you little to zero leverage if you miss payment. They have cancelled my entire account after missing payment by a day and until full payment is made, where my phone only got reactivated a week later.

Linsaid:

Thank you for the very helpful article and an informative site. I got a question to ask you if you don’t mind. In an other article of yours, you’ve recommended the £10 per month asda mobile plan to be the best value sim only pay&go deal. It has 600mins, unlimited text and 1.5Gb data. But the plusnet £10 plan exceeds it in every aspect while also having EE as their network provider. Not to mention the flexible bolt ons. I want to know if there is any disadvantage of plusnet in this rivalry? I am looking for a budget pay&go/30days plan that has at least 1Gb data with good coverage (EE or O2 I think). Would you suggest me plusnet or asda and why? I am sorry for troubling you and Thank you very much again. Happy New Year.

Hi Lin,
Thanks for your comment! Both ASDA Mobile and Plusnet Mobile are fine options. The key distinction, however, is that ASDA Mobile is a Pay As You Go network whereas Plusnet Mobile is a Pay Monthly (contract) mobile network.
With ASDA Mobile, there’s no credit check or recurring Direct Debit payments, therefore giving you full control over how much you spend. You can also decide at any time either to change to another bundle, or to leave a gap before buying your next bundle (e.g. for instance, if you travelling somewhere else and didn’t need your bundle for a month).
With Plusnet Mobile, it’s different as you will need to undergo a credit check process and you’ll be on a 30-day rolling Pay Monthly contract. You’ll need to set-up an automatic Direct Debit (and keep an eye out for additional charges as these can reach £10/month). Finally, as there’s a 30-day contract, you’ll need to call them in advance if you’d like to change or cancel your tariff.
So I’d go for ASDA Mobile if you want the flexibility & control of Pay As You Go, and Plusnet Mobile if you want the value of a Pay Monthly contract.
Hope this helps!
Ken

Linreplied:

Dear Ken,
Thank you very much for your comprehensive and swift reply. Sincerely appreciated. The explanation was perfect. Guess I’d sacrifice that 500mb for the flexible asda paygo deal. Thanks a lot again. Keep the good work and I will definitely recommand this site to my friends. 🙂

Samuelsaid:

I had a terrible experience with Lifemobile about porting my number some months ago. I was first given a PAC code that expired in April 2016 in August 2016. I called them thrice and they gave me a new PAC code which I used to join another network. They kept sending bills to me and billed me for 3 months. They eventually sent my detail to a debt collector. They found out later that my line was still on their system as live even though I was using another network. It was so much that I decided to contact the regulator to complain. A young lady eventually helped me and cancelled the debt. If you don’t want high blood pressure especially if you are thinking of porting your number to another network , please don’t use them.

Amirsaid:

As mobile plans move fast this page is now quite out of date! Thanks though ken for your hard work! Plusnet have an offer so you get double data on their £7.50 and £10 plan!

You never mention voicemail but it appears that they charge you 40p for the privilege and it’s not included in the allowance (just trying to confirm that) was looking for my wife but that is a no no i’m afraid!

Hi Amir,
Thanks so much for the heads up about this: I’ve just updated the article above with Plusnet’s latest offers. With regards to voicemail, I’ve researched this a little more in-depth and it does appear to be included within the monthly allowance. You can find more information here on the Plusnet Mobile FAQs.
Thanks again!
Ken

Barbarasaid:

Hi Ken, I pay for my son’s mobile. He says that his current data allowance of 2 gb runs out after 3 days !
He uses the mobile to watch a lot of tv etc as he lives in student digs.
I am not prepared to pay more than about £12 ish so have been looking for the best deal with a proper cap. Initially chose talkmobile 12gb for £12 which is a cracking deal but have cancelled it as they don’t have a proper cap. I cant find anything else close. The best deal I can find is Tesco £12.50 for 6 gb which I am thinking may not be enough data.
What is your suggestion?
Many thanks

Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your comment. I have two articles that might be of interest:
1. Capped Contracts: This summarises the capping options available on each mobile network, so may be useful if you’re looking for a SIM card to give to your son.
2. Pay As You Go bundles: If you’d like to look at pre-paid options instead, this covers how much you can get for different amounts per month.
Given the situation you’ve described above, you’re probably looking for a data allowance of about 20GB per month. To be honest, it’s pretty difficult to get that for £12/month (though this £10 PAYG deal from ASDA Mobile should tide you over for the next two months). Realistically, on a long-term deal, you’re probably looking at about £25/month.
Out of interest, is there any reason he isn’t able to get a home broadband connection? This will cost about £20/month and will give him unlimited data (also, the speeds are likely to be better and the cost can be shared with other people in the household).
Ken

Barbarareplied:

Thank you Ken, I will have a look at the website . Talkmobile tried their hardest to convince me that they could cap the payment but fortunately I had read a lot of horror stories on the internet before ringing them. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Hi Daniel,
If you were to ask me for my honest opinion, I’d say there’s no need to upgrade to a 4G plan for higher speeds. From the sounds of it, you’re already getting very good speeds on 3G. For comparison, you only need about 4Mbit/s to stream HD video, so any further increase in speed will have negligible benefit.
Saying that, it might be worth having a quick review to see how much data you’re currently using each month. Personally, I think it’s definitely worthwhile to upgrade to a 4GB allowance (but you’ll need to make your own decision on whether the 4GB allowance is of any use to you).
Hope this helps,
Ken

JoeChin13said:

I have Plusnet broadband at home so I am definitely interested. The Plusnet Mobile website is a bit light on information at the moment so I am hoping you can answer these questions…
– The 4GB for £10/month pre-launch offer is compelling (esp. when combined with the Mates Rates). Will this be a standing offer or only for the first month (or few)? Is there a limit on how many SIMs at this rate per household?
– Is there a limit on how many SIMs will get the Mates Rates per Plusnet household?
– Is Double Speed 4G available? If so, what will be the cost?
– Any Euro/overseas roaming packages?

Hi Joe,
Thank you for your kind comments! As you say, lots of details about Plusnet Mobile are still unclear but I’ll attempt to answer your questions where I’m able to:
1. To get the 4GB for £10 offer, you’ll need to pre-register on the Plusnet Mobile website. Once you have it, I believe you’ll keep it (this isn’t an introductory offer or anything like that). One thing worth noting however is that Mates Rates (double data) can’t be combined with the £10 pre-launch offer. Instead, it’s only available on standard non-offer tariffs.
2. I can’t see anything in the terms and conditions about a maximum number of SIM cards per household. However, it’s likely we’ll need to wait until the 29th November to get a definitive answer on this question.
3. They haven’t yet provided any information about double-speed 4G. However, my guess is the answer will probably be no. This is because EE is keeping double-speed 4G as one of their value-add features (I believe the only MVNO offering this at the moment is BT Mobile who charge an extra £4/month for it).
4. They’ve not yet announced anything with regards to international roaming. The good news, of course, is they’ll have a standard rates for travelling in the EU so whatever packages are available, it should be reasonably affordable (and it should be totally free from the 15th June 2017).
Hope this helps,
Ken

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your comment. This is actually a general problem which applies to all mobile networks – some handsets will automatically convert your SMS message into a MMS picture message when you use an emoji. You should try and turn this off on your phone and then you won’t be charged for using emoji whichever network you’re on 🙂
If you don’t do this, LIFE Mobile also has a charge for MMS (they’ll charge you 40p per picture message).
Ken

Michellereplied:

Hi Michelle,
I’d also recommend using an instant messaging app such as WhatsApp. If you’d like to prevent yourself from accidentally running up a large bill for emojis, you can disable MMS by going to Settings > Messages > MMS Messaging and changing the setting to ‘Off’.
Hope this helps,
Ken

Marksaid:

Hi,
After a lot of research I decided to take the plunge and sign up with Life. That was about a month ago, and I can say that I’ve had absolutely no problems. Switching my number over was done within a day and there was no interruption of service.
Customer service is excellent, so is the signal and of course the price is amazing 🙂

Stephen Shinwellsaid:

After 18 years with Orange into the EE takeover..(now owned by BT of course) I finally left and took a punt on LIFE. I had read they were owned by EE and 3G suits my needs. I used the USWITCH exclusive offer of £5.95 for 1GB/1000mins/5000 Texts…and importantly, only tied into a rolling 30 day contract. Switch over was fine, porting number took about 2 days. I’ve phoned LIFE about 4 times. Each call was answered within 20 seconds from their call centre based on the Wirral near Liverpool. They speak English ( well kind of : )) and were friendly and sorted my query each time. How bloody refreshing is that. I’m just starting my 2nd 30 day contract. So from me it is a 100% thumbs up. We all complain on the net about bad service, contracts etc…So credit where it’s due to LIFE mobile. Couple of little things…1/ being in London the wifi link to the underground would be the cherry on the cake as they don’t offer that. There is no USAGE app as of yet to check your usage, but I believe these apps can be very slow with accurate info. You can check usage on your account online and I notice it gets updated within about half a day….and 3/ You have to enter user and password on your account every time..it can’t be saved as far as I can see. Other than that, if 3G is all you require, they have been excellent.

Melsaid:

Joined 4 days ago and service has been impeccable. Replies to questions made very quickly and old number ported within 24 hours. Great coverage and quick browsing. Some will experience glitches, but life (no pun) is like that.

Jasper Soulsaid:

Please stay away from these people. I got a pac code to port my number. They told me it would be done in 48 hours .. They turned the original phone number off 2 days ago now is day 5 still they haven’t done anything I can’t use my phone . There is no customer service and the call handlers are rude. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

Bob Bennetreplied:

This is certainly not my experience of the Life customer service line.

Ring them again on the 0800 number in Ken’s article. Then be nice and chatty like you would be if you were ringing your Mum. Explain the problem and they will move mountains in order to resolve the matter.

If you get stroppy, they’ll just put you to the back of the queue while they deal with some nicer people. (This applies to almost all complaints to any supplier.)

Bob Bennetreplied:

Jasperreplied:

It is day 6 I have tried to reason with them nobody at the company is competent enough to organise them selves to port the number. OnceI again i advice people to avoid this company. Web site said 1 day to port a number advisor 2 days supervisor said 5 days now it is 6 days. Can’t trust them

Pssaid:

Hi Ps,
As far as I know, LIFE Mobile customers don’t get access to wi-fi on the underground. On EE, you can only get it through the EE, Orange and T-Mobile brands. You can also get it from O2, Three, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.
Hope this helps,
Ken

malreplied:

Nigelsaid:

One factor that might be sensible to research is whether network operators (virtual or otherwise) will allow people to pay for a temporary boost to their allowances. For example, as I have a good connection at home I don’t use much of my mobile data allowance. However, if there was a problem with my home network it helps to know if I can buy extra mobile data capacity for a short-term need. Life Mobile offers this (albeit only at 3G speeds, of course), and this is one of the factors that means I shall be moving to them. (The other factors include price, roaming, and – in case things turn out wrong – short contract terms so I can escape cheaply.)

Tomsaid:

Just a heads-up that USwitch are currently offering exclusive deals on Life Mobile – the Value (1GB) and Everyday (3GB) plans are discounted to £6 and £10 respectively which seems like fantastic value…

Taniareplied:

Just taken up the Value option via Uswitch after 13 years with Virgin, they couldn’t match it as Virgin no longer give the huge loyalty discounts they used to. Porting my number today and had to ring them once so far, very clear explanation of how it works and no waiting.

Hi Alex! Thanks for your comment. The general feedback I’ve had so far from other readers is the customer service is pretty good at LIFE Mobile (e.g. see here). They have UK-based call centres according to their website. Does anyone here have any further feedback on LIFE Mobile’s customer service they’re able to share?
Thanks,
Ken

Humerareplied:

Hi, I’ve been with Life Mobile for 3 months now and have rang them quite a few times, there is absolutely no waiting times, just pick an option and you’re straight through to a UK based call centre. I ring them often as its quicker than logging in online to check my account 🙂

Bob Bennetreplied:

I’ve been talking to them today, at some length, about trying to get delivery receipts for SMS messages. Instantly through to a chatty adviser, who you can also speak to again if you have cause to ring back. I signed up for the £6 switch deal and my only reservation is the delivery receipts. (I tried the o2 version of *0# before the message but that doesn’t work.)

One point to clarify, they categorically told me they have no connection to EE other than to use their network. Certainly the EE computer doesn’t recognise my ‘Life’ number, and the EE help number of 150 doesn’t work either. ‘Life’s number is 500.

Quinreplied:

I’ve been with them for nearly 2 years. Only had to call them a handful of times during this time including last week and have always been put through to a UK based advisor within seconds. Though this may change as Life Mobile becomes more popular!

jemsaid:

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About Ken

My passion is helping people to get the most out of their mobile phone. I've been blogging at Ken's Tech Tips since 2005.

Aside from writing about mobile technology, I have an interest in software development, digital marketing and physics. Outside of the blog, I work with numerous technology companies helping them to market their product to consumers. Find out more.